Filling the void: inside BCC’s expanding cycling pathway
As British Cycling’s formal development structures thin out beyond the age of 16, a growing number of riders find themselves stranded in the space between promise and opportunity. In Beeston, BCC Race Team president John McCay is attempting to fill that void - building a pathway that runs from U14 racing to elite competition, reconnects riders with the national system, and measures success as much in regional leagues as in European and World titles.
As we sit down for coffee in one of Beeston’s bustling cafés, BCC RT president John McCay pulls out a small brown notebook. Its contents – pages of handwritten notes, calculations and diagrams – offer a fascinating look into the mind of the man at the head of not only an Elite Development Team, but one of the UK’s largest cycling academies, offering opportunities to riders from the age of 14.
“I wasn’t being awkward with the long silence, it’s just I’ve been so busy I don’t know what to tell you first,” he smiles, opening the book to a clean page halfway through.
“Do you know what age the Go Ride scheme runs until?” he asks, beginning to draw a rudimentary picture in the notebook. “It’s 16,” he answers after a blank, puzzled look stares back at him. “That could be the end of British Cycling’s involvement in so much talent,” he muses.
Everything may look OK with the Olympic success for Team GB every four years, but what’s below that?
Meanwhile, the picture he is scrawling begins to come to life – a triangle representing an iceberg, with the vast majority of its mass hidden from sight below the water.
“These are the Olympic rings,” he points out, drawing attention to five circles safely above the ocean. “Everything may look OK with the Olympic success for Team GB every four years, but what’s below that?” he asks rhetorically.
BCC Race Team juniors at the 2025 ANEXO CAMS Junior CiCLE Classic . Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Two parallel thin lines appear down the left-hand side of the iceberg. “That’s the path to the Great Britain squad from the Regional and National School of Racing,” he says, scribbling into the rest of the triangle, highlighting its vast area, an arrow pointing between it and the small part not submerged. “That’s the void we’re trying to fill. Giving riders a place outside of the British Cycling system, helping them progress and then getting them back into the British Cycling system.”
It is a typically ambitious opening statement from one of the principal characters behind what he styles as the UK’s biggest cycling pathway, with riders under the Beeston Academy banner from U14 level right the way through to the BCC Race Team, the Elite Development Team. However, progress is visible and beginning to move at pace as the pathway develops.
Will Salter has agreed to join Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team. That’s like a gold medal to us
“Will Salter has agreed to join Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team. That’s like a gold medal to us,” he reveals, the Welsh Road Race Champion having been supported by the pathway since he was a second-year junior across both road and track, guiding him back from times in ‘the void’ to claim the Junior European Omnium title in 2024, and the U23 equivalent in the Team Pursuit in 2025 as part of the GB Senior Academy.
McCay explains that Salter benefited from the experience of Head Coach Bryan Steel, the multiple Olympic medallist no stranger to success across different disciplines, balancing commitments with the national squad and trade teams along the way.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking for a team [at that point], as part of the Great Britain Cycling Team and the Welsh set-up. I was worried that being part of a team would add another layer of complexity and another commitment that I wouldn’t be able to meet,” the 19-year-old later tells The British Continental, reflecting on his move.
William Salter at the 2025 Lloyds National Track Championships. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
“I remember speaking with Bryan about this, and as an ex-GBCT rider himself he’s been in this position and understands the many ‘pulls’ on a rider. Bryan was really supportive and explained that BCC would be there to support me as a rider, whether that was with GB, Wales, or with BCC.”
Salter is keen to point out his multiple national and European titles won during his time with the team, something McCay takes pride in for all riders across the pathway.
In 2025 we’ve now got two European jerseys and a World title on the track. We’ve got two British jerseys, three Scottish, and a Welsh jersey
“In 2025 we’ve now got two European jerseys and a World title on the track. We’ve got two British jerseys, three Scottish, and a Welsh jersey,” McCay states after briefly checking his notes, honing in on the success of Kristian Larigo, the European and World Junior Team Sprint Champion, who has been nurtured on the boards by BCC Sprint Team Coach Chris Pyatt and Team GB since switching from BMX at the age of 14.
“You’ll see him at the Olympics,” McCay smiles confidently, turning his attention to results further down the pathway programme, back towards the road.
“It was great to win the East Midlands Road Race League again. The way we dominated it – we didn’t win every race, but there was a spread of our riders in the top placings,” he states, the Regional A competition a world away from the international arena, but just as vital a cog in their system. “That gives me as much joy as the National, European and World jerseys,” he adds.
Regional races have become increasingly important to the team as they look to develop homegrown talent for their Elite Development Team, McCay certain that increasing his riders’ exposure to the demands of the sport is directly the best way to produce positive results.
Lewis Tinsley. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
He points to the team’s annual convoy training session as an example of this. Open to all, the training helps first-year juniors transition from circuits to open roads, with team cars, NEG outriders, commissaires and neutral service vehicles all involved.
Further to this is the volume of races the riders are involved in.
“In 2025, across the whole pathway, there were 1,110 race entries. Up 390% on last year. 191 podiums, 28 international podiums – that’s up 20% on last year. 55 wins in the UK and Europe – up 65% on last year,” McCay states proudly, reeling off a host of figures, whilst acknowledging that the number of riders has also increased. “It was 49 last year, we had 58 this year. Next year, 73,” he adds with a wry smile, acknowledging his ever-increasing workload.
“Now we know that the Elite Development Team, in the realms of the eight teams, there’s still work to do, but it’s growing and growing. But the pathway is part of making that sustainable – we’re on a five-year plan, we’re a project,” McCay reasons, going through the 11-rider roster for the forthcoming season.
We’re creating seasoned riders, not buying in seasoned riders. It’s working on developing the talent we have.
The squad keeps its core from twelve months ago, with four new signings from the junior pathway squad joining the likes of Alex Ball, who returns for a second season, and Lewis Tinsley, who finished fifth in the Witheridge Grand Prix.
“We’re creating seasoned riders, not buying in seasoned riders,” he reiterates. “It’s working on developing the talent we have. What we’ve done is sign talented youth and juniors; what we felt was that we wanted these riders to come through.
“Ben Marsh has come back [from a year in France], which is great. He’s been training with us – expect him to deliver. Alex Ball had a bit of an up-and-down season, but he’s coming good again.”
Alexander Ball. Image: Mathew Wells/SWpix.com
The team will continue to place emphasis on the National Road Series in 2026, using the gaps in the sporadic UK calendar to allow riders to gain experience in Europe. “That balance continues,” McCay points out, the team entering their third campaign with that outlook.
We’re underpinning the UK calendar with full attendance at the National Road Series races. Then with the gaps in the calendar, four- or five-week blocks out in Europe
“We’re underpinning the UK calendar with full attendance at the [National Road Series] races. Then with the gaps in the calendar, four- or five-week blocks out in Europe – we’ve now got two European agents who are looking at, and getting us into, races. We’ll be doing a lot in Belgium and the Netherlands. France is more interesting; the racing calendar there is becoming sparse. That’s the information I’ve been given.”
Despite his reservations about racing directly across the Channel, the team have confirmed their attendance at the St Brieuc Agglo Tour, a two-day stage UCI race in the country, as well as the GP Plouay in Brittany, a cornerstone of their race programme from their days as a junior outfit. The team will begin their UCI calendar in March at the five-day Metec Olympias Tour, a race previously won by Cees Bol and Tim Torn Teutenberg.
2026 will also see the advent of a new women’s road team, as well as a dedicated women’s track sprint team. The eight road riders will slot into the pathway at U16 level, the team’s ambition to bring them through the age groups, mirroring the existing setup of their open squads.
“We have a dedicated female DS, Julie Bratton, a former Great Britain rider. They’re currently youth – we’re building up again. They’ll have a team car next year when they progress to junior. It goes back to how do we support this triangle?”
The team also continue their vision of “building champions on and off the bike”, adding a new partnership with add-victor to existing schemes with charity SwitchUp and the University of Derby – Ben Marsh among the first intake of students on the FdA Athlete Development course run in conjunction with the team.
“add-victor deal exclusively in recruitment of sportspeople,” McCay explains. “[Riders] can follow an elite career and we can help them with jobs, with their education through the foundation degree partnership. It’s a wider story we’ve talked about before – we’re building relationships that create something wider and deeper.”
It is widely acknowledged in the music industry that a band’s third album is most often their best work, a combination of skill and experience delivering a strong performance. McCay has the artwork in place for his pathway team’s third season, one which could see the team’s youthful sound mature, breaking through from the underground to the National Series podium.
Filling the void, as he describes it.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
As we sit down for coffee in one of Beeston’s bustling cafés, BCC RT president John McCay pulls out a small brown notebook. Its contents – pages of handwritten notes, calculations and diagrams – offer a fascinating look into the mind of the man at the head of not only an Elite Development Team, but one of the UK’s largest cycling academies, offering opportunities to riders from the age of 14.
“I wasn’t being awkward with the long silence, it’s just I’ve been so busy I don’t know what to tell you first,” he smiles, opening the book to a clean page halfway through.
“Do you know what age the Go Ride scheme runs until?” he asks, beginning to draw a rudimentary picture in the notebook. “It’s 16,” he answers after a blank, puzzled look stares back at him. “That could be the end of British Cycling’s involvement in so much talent,” he muses.
Meanwhile, the picture he is scrawling begins to come to life – a triangle representing an iceberg, with the vast majority of its mass hidden from sight below the water.
“These are the Olympic rings,” he points out, drawing attention to five circles safely above the ocean. “Everything may look OK with the Olympic success for Team GB every four years, but what’s below that?” he asks rhetorically.
Two parallel thin lines appear down the left-hand side of the iceberg. “That’s the path to the Great Britain squad from the Regional and National School of Racing,” he says, scribbling into the rest of the triangle, highlighting its vast area, an arrow pointing between it and the small part not submerged. “That’s the void we’re trying to fill. Giving riders a place outside of the British Cycling system, helping them progress and then getting them back into the British Cycling system.”
It is a typically ambitious opening statement from one of the principal characters behind what he styles as the UK’s biggest cycling pathway, with riders under the Beeston Academy banner from U14 level right the way through to the BCC Race Team, the Elite Development Team. However, progress is visible and beginning to move at pace as the pathway develops.
“Will Salter has agreed to join Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team. That’s like a gold medal to us,” he reveals, the Welsh Road Race Champion having been supported by the pathway since he was a second-year junior across both road and track, guiding him back from times in ‘the void’ to claim the Junior European Omnium title in 2024, and the U23 equivalent in the Team Pursuit in 2025 as part of the GB Senior Academy.
McCay explains that Salter benefited from the experience of Head Coach Bryan Steel, the multiple Olympic medallist no stranger to success across different disciplines, balancing commitments with the national squad and trade teams along the way.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking for a team [at that point], as part of the Great Britain Cycling Team and the Welsh set-up. I was worried that being part of a team would add another layer of complexity and another commitment that I wouldn’t be able to meet,” the 19-year-old later tells The British Continental, reflecting on his move.
“I remember speaking with Bryan about this, and as an ex-GBCT rider himself he’s been in this position and understands the many ‘pulls’ on a rider. Bryan was really supportive and explained that BCC would be there to support me as a rider, whether that was with GB, Wales, or with BCC.”
Salter is keen to point out his multiple national and European titles won during his time with the team, something McCay takes pride in for all riders across the pathway.
“In 2025 we’ve now got two European jerseys and a World title on the track. We’ve got two British jerseys, three Scottish, and a Welsh jersey,” McCay states after briefly checking his notes, honing in on the success of Kristian Larigo, the European and World Junior Team Sprint Champion, who has been nurtured on the boards by BCC Sprint Team Coach Chris Pyatt and Team GB since switching from BMX at the age of 14.
“You’ll see him at the Olympics,” McCay smiles confidently, turning his attention to results further down the pathway programme, back towards the road.
“It was great to win the East Midlands Road Race League again. The way we dominated it – we didn’t win every race, but there was a spread of our riders in the top placings,” he states, the Regional A competition a world away from the international arena, but just as vital a cog in their system. “That gives me as much joy as the National, European and World jerseys,” he adds.
Regional races have become increasingly important to the team as they look to develop homegrown talent for their Elite Development Team, McCay certain that increasing his riders’ exposure to the demands of the sport is directly the best way to produce positive results.
He points to the team’s annual convoy training session as an example of this. Open to all, the training helps first-year juniors transition from circuits to open roads, with team cars, NEG outriders, commissaires and neutral service vehicles all involved.
Further to this is the volume of races the riders are involved in.
“In 2025, across the whole pathway, there were 1,110 race entries. Up 390% on last year. 191 podiums, 28 international podiums – that’s up 20% on last year. 55 wins in the UK and Europe – up 65% on last year,” McCay states proudly, reeling off a host of figures, whilst acknowledging that the number of riders has also increased. “It was 49 last year, we had 58 this year. Next year, 73,” he adds with a wry smile, acknowledging his ever-increasing workload.
“Now we know that the Elite Development Team, in the realms of the eight teams, there’s still work to do, but it’s growing and growing. But the pathway is part of making that sustainable – we’re on a five-year plan, we’re a project,” McCay reasons, going through the 11-rider roster for the forthcoming season.
The squad keeps its core from twelve months ago, with four new signings from the junior pathway squad joining the likes of Alex Ball, who returns for a second season, and Lewis Tinsley, who finished fifth in the Witheridge Grand Prix.
“We’re creating seasoned riders, not buying in seasoned riders,” he reiterates. “It’s working on developing the talent we have. What we’ve done is sign talented youth and juniors; what we felt was that we wanted these riders to come through.
“Ben Marsh has come back [from a year in France], which is great. He’s been training with us – expect him to deliver. Alex Ball had a bit of an up-and-down season, but he’s coming good again.”
The team will continue to place emphasis on the National Road Series in 2026, using the gaps in the sporadic UK calendar to allow riders to gain experience in Europe. “That balance continues,” McCay points out, the team entering their third campaign with that outlook.
“We’re underpinning the UK calendar with full attendance at the [National Road Series] races. Then with the gaps in the calendar, four- or five-week blocks out in Europe – we’ve now got two European agents who are looking at, and getting us into, races. We’ll be doing a lot in Belgium and the Netherlands. France is more interesting; the racing calendar there is becoming sparse. That’s the information I’ve been given.”
Despite his reservations about racing directly across the Channel, the team have confirmed their attendance at the St Brieuc Agglo Tour, a two-day stage UCI race in the country, as well as the GP Plouay in Brittany, a cornerstone of their race programme from their days as a junior outfit. The team will begin their UCI calendar in March at the five-day Metec Olympias Tour, a race previously won by Cees Bol and Tim Torn Teutenberg.
2026 will also see the advent of a new women’s road team, as well as a dedicated women’s track sprint team. The eight road riders will slot into the pathway at U16 level, the team’s ambition to bring them through the age groups, mirroring the existing setup of their open squads.
“We have a dedicated female DS, Julie Bratton, a former Great Britain rider. They’re currently youth – we’re building up again. They’ll have a team car next year when they progress to junior. It goes back to how do we support this triangle?”
The team also continue their vision of “building champions on and off the bike”, adding a new partnership with add-victor to existing schemes with charity SwitchUp and the University of Derby – Ben Marsh among the first intake of students on the FdA Athlete Development course run in conjunction with the team.
“add-victor deal exclusively in recruitment of sportspeople,” McCay explains. “[Riders] can follow an elite career and we can help them with jobs, with their education through the foundation degree partnership. It’s a wider story we’ve talked about before – we’re building relationships that create something wider and deeper.”
It is widely acknowledged in the music industry that a band’s third album is most often their best work, a combination of skill and experience delivering a strong performance. McCay has the artwork in place for his pathway team’s third season, one which could see the team’s youthful sound mature, breaking through from the underground to the National Series podium.
Filling the void, as he describes it.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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